"Roundtable on Emma Gilligan's Terror in Chechnya: Russia and the Tragedy of Civilians in War (Princeton University Press, 2010)," SIPA 1512, 4:25-6 pm (Monday)
"Terror in Chechnya is the definitive account of Russian war crimes in Chechnya. Emma Gilligan provides a comprehensive history of the second Chechen conflict of 1999 to 2005, revealing one of the most appalling human rights catastrophes of the modern era--one that has yet to be fully acknowledged by the international community. Drawing upon eyewitness testimony and interviews with refugees and key political and humanitarian figures, Gilligan tells for the first time the full story of the Russian military's systematic use of torture, disappearances, executions, and other punitive tactics against the Chechen population.
In Terror in Chechnya, Gilligan challenges Russian claims that civilian casualties in Chechnya were an unavoidable consequence of civil war. She argues that racism and nationalism were substantial factors in Russia's second war against the Chechens and the resulting refugee crisis. She does not ignore the war crimes committed by Chechen separatists and pro-Moscow forces. Gilligan traces the radicalization of Chechen fighters and sheds light on the Dubrovka and Beslan hostage crises, demonstrating how they undermined the separatist movement and in turn contributed to racial hatred against Chechens in Moscow.
This panel brings together a group of distinguished scholars and experts to discuss the arguments and findings of Gilligan's book.
Panelists:
Emma Gilligan, Assistant Professor of Russian History and Human Rights, University of Connecticut. She is also the author of Defending Human Rights in Russia: Sergei Kovalyov, Dissident and Human Rights Commissioner, 1969-2003.
Jason Lyall, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Yale University
Kimberly Marten, Professor of Political Science, Barnard College
Diederik Lohman, Senior Researcher, Human Rights Watch
This event is part of the “Human Rights in the Post-Communist World: Strategies and Outcomes ” series (Harriman Core Project 2010-2011, Co-Directed by Alexander Cooley and Jack Snyder). This event is free and open to the public. Please RSVP. Seating is on a first come, first served basis."
Renowned Russian author Ludmila Ulitskaya will give a reading from her new novel Daniel Stein, Interpreter (Overlook Press, 2011). Ulitskaya is the author of twelve fiction books, of three tales for children and of six plays staged by a number of theatres in Russia and in Germany. She is frequently called the most profound and far-reaching author of the contemporary Russian literature. She made her first appearance on the literary stage as a short-story writer; several collections of Ulitskaya's short stories published under various titles are full of rich color and psychological details. Then followed several novels, each having become an important event of Russian literature of our days. Ludmila Ulitskaya is one of the most published modern Russian writers abroad. This event is co-sponsored by the Institute of Modern Russia and the Harriman Institute.
Satybaldy Narymbetov's Mustafa Shokai is the first historical blockbuster of post-Soviet Kazakhstan. The recent film, Nomad (Kochevniki, Sergei Bodrov et al, 2005) could offer a kind of rival, but history is the focus of Mustafa Shokai rather than a frame for the action genre as in Nomad. Mustafa Shokai is designed to educate viewers, particularly Kazakhs, but the reality is that it fails as an informative historical drama, conflating an already complex and contradictory biography.
Mustafa Shokai (1890-1941) was born in Perovsk (now the village Aulie-Tarangyl) in the Turkestan Krai of the Russian Empire. He was not destined to be a peripheral figure; his maternal ancestors were part of a line of Kazakh khans of the Khiva khanate. He was a Turkestani nationalist when there was no longer a Turkestan, and he emerged as a key political actor at a moment of revolutionary transformation. He served at various times as a member of the Shura-i-Islamiya (Muslim Council), as the leader of the Provisional Government of Autonomous Turkestan (or Kokand Autonomy movement), and as a delegate to the First All-Kirgiz Congress in Orenburg where they created the first Kazakh political party, Alash Orda. Yet he ultimately lost touch with the political realities of Central Asia that centered on compromises between religious elites and Bolshevik officials and he left the Soviet Union for Europe. (Kinokul'tura)
Healing Paradigms and the Politics of Health in Central Asia," Kellogg Center, 15th floor SIPA, 9:00 am to 6:00 pm (Friday)
Columbia Global Centers, the Harriman Institute, and the Columbia University Seminar on Slavic History & Culture generously provided support for this conference.
Reception with Central Asian food provided.
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